"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
- Dale Carnegie

Sunday, September 20, 2015

"Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 6: Battlefield Namek" by Akira Toriyama

Rating: ★★★★★

Previously on Dragon Ball Z(I) Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan have traveled to space to reach the planet Namek to find the original dragon balls and resurrect their friends and the dragon balls on Earth.

(II) While this may seem like a simple task, we discover that Vegeta is also trying to capture the dragon balls and to defeat the leader named Freeza and his henchmen who Vegeta used to work with before he had gone rogue.

(III) Goku gets cured up by the senzu bean and hops on a spaceship to rescue his friends and family asap before anything horrifying happens to them.

That is what you missed on Dragon Ball Z!

In this volume we encounter our friends Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan witnessing Freeza and his henchmen up close and personal in small Namekian village. Gohan and gang have the dragon ball radar and when they discovered the village, they noticed that Freeza has 4 dragon balls already and is seeking to claim the 5th one. A few Namekian fighters have arrived to defeat Freeza but were no match for these evildoers, and in return to save the village the head elder gave Freeza the 5th dragon ball but refused to help them find the 6th one.

Since Freeza is evil, he killed practically everyone minus a child who Gohan came to the rescue. By risking this it showcased Freeza that they are not Namekians, and that they are not the only one who wants the Dragon Balls. The time is ticking now and the gang needs to find shelter until Goku arrives. Meanwhile that drama is going on, Vegeta is successfully killing Freeza's henchmen one by one and they are all shocked to see how powerful he has become.

Vegeta gives us some insight into the Saiyan race which is supposedly after every fight if that Saiyan survives he becomes as strong as his last opponent. When looking back it does make sense because Goku fought with Master Roshi who was the ultimate fighter at the time. He obviously survived but now his power is equal to Master Roshi and then he fights Tenshinhan, Mr. Popo, God, and Piccolo and survived. By having hard training and fighting astounding fighters no wonder Goku is like Superman.

If Vegeta is the strongest fighter that Goku has fought so far, there is no telling how invincible he will become the next time he fights and that will practically happen soon. We barely get any Goku action which I kind of like for now because we get insight into Gohan's upbringing and the rest of the gang who didn't have enough time to make an impact into this series.

What was astounding is on the voyage to Namek, Goku gets into contact with Kaio-Sama and he discovers that everyone from Yamcha to Piccolo have arrived to Kaio-Sama's place to train with him and be able to kick Goku's ass. It was refreshing to see them in a positive outlook especially how awful it was to see them get killed. I have no clue if they will ever be resurrected but it would be nice to see our old friends again alive.

By the end of this volume, Goku still hasn't arrived Namek yet but Gohan and Kuririn become friends with the Namekian that they saved who is called Dende and they discover that the last person to have the dragon ball in the head elder who has the sole survivor of the destruction of the planet Namek. This elder is the one who is able to reproduce all these namekians and Dende takes Kuririn to his house to meet him and to ensure he captures the last dragon ball. Will Goku save the day and destroy Freeza and company or will we meet a new evil that has never been seen before? Tune in until next time on Dragon Ball Z...